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Lane closures and slow traffic

BBC Travel

M42 lane - a lane is closed on the exit slip road southbound at J4, A34 (Shirley), because of a broken down vehicle and there's slow traffic and a lane closed on M6 northbound between J6 A38(M) Aston Expressway and J7, A34 (Great Barr), because of emergency repairs.

There's also slow traffic on M5 southbound between J2, A4123 (Oldbury) and J3, A456 (Halesowen), because of earlier police incident.

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D-Day veterans honoured in Wolverhampton

Second World War veterans were honoured for their bravery in the D-Day landings when they received the Legion D'Honneur from the Honorary Consul for France during a ceremony in Wolverhampton earlier.

They were recognised for their efforts during and after D-Day, 6 June 1944 – the biggest seaborne invasion in history when the Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy and started to break through the German army's defences.

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County Championship: Trott narrowly missed out on new career-best

Richard Wilford

BBC WM

Warwickshire's Jonathan Trott scored his first Championship century since 2014 and then doubled up against Middlesex as he took the Bears to what had seemed earlier in the day to be unlikely - a lead of 16 runs after both sides' first innings.

Trott finished 219 not out at Lord's - just eight runs short of a new career-best. Follow the action.

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M6 Toll: Never envisaged to ease M6 congestion

The M6 Toll was never envisaged to ease congestion on the M6, its owners say.

M6 Toll chief executive Andy Pearson said the M6 would fill back up with local traffic when the through traffic moved across to the toll.

Responding to calls to scrap the charges when the motorway network becomes gridlocked he said: "The real benefit of the M6toll is to relieve congestion on the local road networks as a result of taking through traffic from the M6, allowing the M6 to absorb more local traffic."

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Black Country Chamber of Commerce to recruit new chief and board members

A group of leading businessmen is on the hunt for a new chief executive and three more board members.

Black Country Chamber of Commerce President Adrian Wright has announced changes in the executive and board after Keith Bryan, appointed as interim chief executive in January 2016, concluded a review of the organisation and stepped down from his position.

Black Country Chamber of Commerce

Mr Wright said: "We are looking for business leaders who have the gravitas and skills required to take us to the next level: to become the best chamber in the UK in 2017.

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Council leaders call for re-think on Wolves new shirt sponsor

Adrian Goldberg

Presenter, BBC WM

The leader of City of Wolverhampton Council, Roger Lawrence, and the leader of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council Pete Lowe have written a joint letter calling for Wolves to end its deal with The Money Shop as its shirt sponsor for next season.

The club's CEO Jex Moxey has previously said the firm had stuck with the club "through thick and thin" and was a "legitimate" lender.

The council leaders' call comes as Wolverhampton Labour MPs Rob Marris and Pat McFadden wrote similar, open letters.

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Tipton man stayed in house drinking cider after killing partner

A man who stabbed his partner to death then sat in the house in Tipton drinking cider, leaving her daughter to discover the body.

Judge John Wait at Wolverhampton Crown Court told US citizen Cezary Sobiewski: "Having killed Barbara Baraniecka in the course of a sustained and brutal attack, you went out to the supermarket, bought cider and sat at home drinking it, leaving Barbara's daughter to find her mother's body and call the emergency services."

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Aston Villa board resignations: Analysis

Mark Regan

BBC WM Sport

The subtext of the resignations of David Bernstein and Lord King from Aston Villa's board - and the reasons given - was that chairman Steve Hollis's work is being undermined by Randy Lerner in America.

Lerner never comes to any of these football games but clearly is making all the decisions.

It has left Hollis looking very high and very dry and like the puppet he said he was not going to be.

Aston Villa had already said striker Gabriel Agbonlahor would be unavailable for two weeks as he underwent a personal fitness programme.

The 29-year-old missed the home defeat by Bournemouth with a virus after a club suspension had ruled him out of the previous match with Chelsea.

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His suspension, which the club today said was "pending an internal investigation", comes after he was cleared following an investigation into his conduct on a recent trip to Dubai where he was pictured appearing to hold a shisha pipe.

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Trott at his best

Warwickshire 198-6 v Middlesex 452

BBC WM's Richard Wilford at Lord's:

"Jonathan Trott's first Championship hundred since 2014 has been immaculate - his six boundaries this morning have all been crisp and well-timed. But can any other Warwickshire batsmen help as they look to reach the follow-on target of 303?"

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Child snatch attempt in Smethwick

A woman attempted to snatch a two-year-old child from the arms of a mother on Harry Mitchell Park, Smethwick, last Thursday morning.

Extra police patrols have been introduced and officers have been talking to nearby schools, dog walkers and neighbours to see if the suspect, described as dark skinned and in her mid 20s, can be identified.

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Shropshire footballer remembered

One of the county's footballing greats is being commemorated in the village where he grew up.

Hitchens Way, on a new housing estate in Highley, remembers the former Aston Villa and Inter Milan player Gerry Hitchens (pictured with the ball), who also scored five goals for England in the 1962 World Cup.

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Hitchens, who started out as a miner down the pits, died after a charity match in 1983 at the age of 48.